SVG Sit-Down: BHV's Chris Bevilacqua on the Potential Impact of Coronavirus on Sports-Media Rights Landscape The sports industry has prioritized public health over their own commercial self-interest' By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Monday, March 30, 2020 - 3:25 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
With the COVID-19 pandemic bringing the sports world to a halt, questions about the long-term impact on the sports-media industry are still to be answered. To provide insight into what the coming months and years may hold for the business, SVG is sitting down with several top sports-media executives and veterans to share their thoughts on the current situation.
Over the past 30 years, Chris Bevilacqua has established himself as a leader in the sports and media business. As co-founder of Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures (BHV), he has consulted on a slew of record-breaking sports-media rights deals. In addition, he was architect of the Pac-12 Conference media strategy and helped to launch Pac-12 Networks. He also pioneered other college-specific channels, including CSTV (the first-ever 24-hour cable network dedicated to college sports) and the MountainWest Sports Network. Prior to these efforts, Bevilacqua was chairman and CEO of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) Sports Media Ventures, serving as a media-rights advisor for several sports and entertainment entities.
Chris Bevilacqua: All these loyal, passionate audiences who are being deprived of their passion over a fairly lengthy period will have some pent-up excitement.
SVG sat down with Bevilacqua late last week to discuss the short- and long-term impact of coronavirus on the industry, how he sees future rights deals playing out, and what the future holds for college sports and regional sports networks.
How do you see the coronavirus pandemic affecting the sports-media business over the next six-12 months?
The immediate impact is obviously not good. Many industries are just shut down, including sports. But the good thing is, I think everybody in the sports industry has prioritized public health over their own commercial self-interest. This industry's doing everything it can do to protect fans, athletes, and employees and worrying about the commercial fallout afterwards.
That said, obviously, if you're not staging events and games, you're not collecting revenue from ticket sales, sponsorship, and media [rights], and that's a substantial lost commercial opportunity. I think we're going to have a period of choppy waters - not for weeks but for months - where we don't know exactly how and when this is going to settle out. And there are a lot of things commercially that are going to be degraded between now and whenever that is. The question then becomes, when things are back up and running, can the economy come back? Do people have a job, and are they willing to go buy a ticket or merchandise like they had in the past?
I don't have a crystal ball, but I am a glass-half-full kind of guy. What I do know as it relates to the sports industry is that the partners on all sides have very solid relationships. In most cases, the owners of the major properties and their commercial partners have been partners for a long time, and, when everything settles out, they'll sit down as partners and work out what's in the best interest of everyone going forward.
In your experience, do major rights deals typically have an out clause for rightsholders if games aren't played?
It's not really one-size-fits-all. These are things that are typically very customized in terms of acts of God, natural disasters, and force majeure. Obviously, you have to address these sorts of unforeseeable events in any kind of a contractual commitment, especially when they are the size and scope of these big properties. And then, everybody has their own set of insurance policies as well, which will play a big role for both sides. In some cases, there's very specific language for loss of games or seasons, and sometimes there isn't. I think there will be a variety of factors coming together depending on the agreement, and it's certainly not going to be the same for everyone.
We have seen the value of live sports coverage skyrocket over the past three decades. Do you believe this situation will cause the sports-rights media bubble to pop?
No, I really don't think so. I think this is going to be a short-term issue - albeit a very painful short-term issue. But, when you start talking about the new cycle of rights, I think you're going to see the values continue to grow. First one up is the NFL, and they're gearing up [for negotiations] right now. Whatever happens, there will be a pretty good barometer of what's to come. An event like this is not going to change the demand for the NFL product over the next 10 years. I truly don't think it will have any meaningful commercial effect on valuable sports rights.
I think it is a unique, unforeseen event that won't change any of the major trends in media. Now, it may accelerate some of those trends. Obviously, there's already a transition going on from traditional media to digital, mobile, and OTT consumption of live sports. I think that will continue unabated. I think high-reach platforms like broadcast TV will still be incredibly important. And, even though cable TV is shrinking in terms of its reach, it is still very meaningful. So I don't see that changing dramatically in the next few years through this next cycle of rights.
Do you believe this situation will have an impact on the rise of legalized sports betting in the near term?
I think the market forces are going to accelerate sports gambling. There is going to be a big hole in local, state, and federal government budgets. And, with the interest in sports betting spreading
North America Stories
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI PO...
27/03/2026
Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Update...
27/03/2026
GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance
Brie Clayton March 27, 2026
0 Comments
NAB marks global launch of servic...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
SVG Sit-Down: BHV's Chris Bevilacqua on the Potential Impact of Coronavirus on Sports-Media Rights Landscape The sports industry has prioritized public health over their own commercial self-interest' By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
